2005, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was inaugurated as the 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church .. he took the name Pope Benedict XVI.

2003 [12] In an interview with ABC-TV’s Diane Sawyer, the Dixie Chicks say they’re living in fear after Natalie Maines set off a firestorm of controversy by announcing she’s ashamed president George W Bush is from the group’s home state of Texas

2007, Sheryl Crow called for a ban on using too much toilet paper in order to help the environment. The singer suggested using “only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where two to three could be required”.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS……………..

Singer – Kelly Clarkson (33)

Cedric the Entertainer (51)

Singer / Actress – Barbra Streisand (73)

WEB FIND OF THE DAY

GOOD NEWS STORY – NURSE REACTION TO PATIENT WALKING

A video of a nurse freaking out when one of her patients stands up out of her wheelchair is blowing up online right now.

According to the video, the girl woke up paralyzed from the waist down one day, and doctors couldn’t figure out why.

Then her legs suddenly started working again 11 days later. So she surprised her favorite nurse by rolling up to her in her wheelchair . . . standing up . . . and giving her a huge hug.

Girl Who Lost Her Home in Hurricane Sandy Got Accepted to Seven Ivy League Schools

18-year-old Daria Rose and her family lost their home in Long Island, New York to Hurricane Sandy back in 2012. There was a fire after they evacuated, and they lost everything.

For a while they lived in hotels, and also stayed with family. But somehow Daria stayed focused at school . . . and just got accepted to SEVEN different Ivy League colleges: Dartmouth, Brown, Cornell, Penn, Princeton, Harvard, and Yale.

The only other Ivy League school is Columbia, which she didn’t apply to for some reason . . . probably because only a LOSER would go to an armpit-of-a-school like Columbia. Either that or she didn’t want to stay in New York.

She says she’s got it narrowed down to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, but she’s not sure which one she’ll choose. She has until May 1st to make up her mind.

Once she does, she’s planning to study political science and Russian literature.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

NEW GIZMOS & GADGETS:• Today the Apple Watch has its official launch in 9 countries worldwide after pre-orders began earlier this month. It features all-new technologies that promise to let you do familiar things more quickly and conveniently (ie: pay at a checkout). Oh, and it also tells the time … accurate to within 50 milliseconds. In addition, when the battery is almost depleted, it kicks into ‘Power Reserve’ mode, shutting down everything but the time. Apple predicts 19 million people will buy the company’s first ‘smartwatch’.

– TechCrunch.com– 50 year old Sandra Bullock has been named the World’s Most Beautiful Woman by ‘People’ Magazine. She tells the mag: “I’ve never been the bombshell that was coveted. In an odd way, that made growing older a lot easier in this business. I guess I’m doing it on my own terms, and that is my wish for everyone.”– Yahoo claims the average Facebook user in the United States and Canada helped Facebook bring in $8.32 of revenue last quarter. Facebook earned $3.54 billion during the quarterTODAY’S MOVIE OPENINGS:• “The Age of Adaline” ( PG-13 Romantic Drama ): A young woman, born at the turn of 20th century, is rendered ageless after an accident. After years of a solitary life, she meets a man who might be worth losing her immortality for. Stars Blake Lively, Michiel Huisman (“Game of Thrones”), Harrison Ford, Kathy Baker. Shot in Coquitlam, British Columbia.

• “Little Boy” ( PG-13 Dramedy ): An 8-year-old boy is willing to do whatever it takes to end World War II so he can bring his father home. The story reveals the indescribable love a father has for his little boy and the love a son has for his father. Stars Jakob Salvati, Emily Watson, David Henrie, Michael Rapaport.

• “The Water Diviner” ( R-Rated War Drama ): An Australian man travels to Turkey after the Battle of Gallipoli to try and locate his 3 missing sons. Directed by and starring Russell Crowe. Co-stars Olga Kurylenko, Jai Courtney, Isabel Lucas. The film was nominated for 5 AACTA Awards in Australia and won 3. Tomorrow is the 100th anniversary of Galipoli.Four-Year-Old Girl Left Her House at 3:00 A.M. and Got on a Bus . . .

Four-year-old Annabelle Ridgeway of Philadelphia was craving a snack around 3:00 A.M. on Friday . . . but she didn’t want any of the stuff around the house. So she got dressed, snuck out the backdoor, walked about five blocks, and got on a city BUS.

Apparently she sat in a seat, swinging her legs and chanting, quote, “All I want is a slushie. All I want is a slushie.” Fortunately, the bus driver stopped the bus immediately and called the cops. They reunited Annabelle with her parents . . . and no charges are being filed.

Woman Gets Revenge on Her Cheating Boyfriend by Drowning All of His Apple Products

There’s a fine line between genius revenge and jail time . . . and this woman in Japan is definitely toeing it.

Last week, she found out her boyfriend was cheating on her, so she got some hardcore revenge . . . she filled up their bathtub and dumped ALL of his Apple products in.

And as we’ve ALL learned the hard way, water and electronics don’t mix . . . especially delicate electronics like all the stuff Apple makes.

She posted two photos of her work on Twitter and it looks like her boyfriend was a serious Apple addict. I spotted an iMac, two MacBook Pros, two or three iPhones, two or three iPads, two or three iPad minis, and an Airport Extreme.

We can’t give a perfect estimate of the value of all that stuff, but it’s got to be around $10,000 . . . maybe even more.

Her tweet has been retweeted more than 17,000 times but people seem pretty split about whether it’s ingenious revenge . . . or criminal.

THE DANGERS OF STAYING UP LATE:If you’re middle-aged and a night owl, you’re at a much higher risk for health problems than early-risers … even if you’re getting the same amount of sleep.

A new study at Seoul’s Korea University involves over 1,600 adults aged 47-to-59, who answered questionnaires about sleep habits and underwent tests to measure blood glucose levels and body scans to measure fat and lean muscle mass. It’s been found that those who stay up late face a higher risk of developing health problems like diabetes than those who are early risers.

Researchers say the findings may relate to night owls’ tendency to have poorer sleep quality and to engage in unhealthy behaviors like smoking, late-night eating, and a sedentary lifestyle.– AARP.org

Little Kid From a Famous Internet Meme is Paying for His Dad’s Kidney Transplant

You don’t know the name Sam Griner, but you probably know his FACE. He’s an eight-year-old kid in Jacksonville, Florida, and a photo of him as a baby got turned into an Internet meme called “Success Kid” back in 2010.

It’s him sitting on a beach, looking into the camera with his fist clenched. According to his mom, he was about to eat a handful of SAND, but it looks like he’s super proud of something he just did.

So people started reposting it with funny captions, and it’s one of the most popular Internet memes ever.

But now the Internet gets to repay him for plastering his face everywhere. It turns out his dad Justin has been in kidney failure for a decade, and has to do four hours of dialysis three times a week.

So Sam’s mom recently started a GoFundMe page to pay for a kidney transplant . . . and Sam’s fans have donated more than $100,000 in the last week.

She also posted a link to a website where anyone willing to donate a kidney can go to see if they’re a match. You can check it out by searching for “Justin’s Kidney Transplant” on Go Fund Me dot com

Garth Brooks Explains Which Artists are “Punks”. Hint: It’s Everyone, Including Him

Here’s another reason why GARTH BROOKS is still relevant after some 26 years. He doesn’t waste time whining about the new artists and what they’re doing. Instead, he welcomes them, and listens to what they’re saying.

He explains, quote, “If country music doesn’t change, what fun is that? I like the fact that it’s different than it was. It’s fun to see the change, and it’s fun to try to keep up with it.”

He also has an awesome take on how the veterans view the new guys. Quote, “I grew up on MERLEHAGGARD and GEORGEJONES, but I’m sure when they [first] heard of Garth Brooks, they went, ‘Pfft, punk.’

“Everybody that comes before you is a God, everybody that comes after you is a punk, and that’s kind of how it is.”